Sharing is Caring
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: The Trials of Strife were designed to train the Army of the Light, a cooperative fighting force that would stand against the Dharkwave. Of course, no-one said that there couldn't be a bit of healthy competition in the midst of said training...


**Sharing is Caring**

"Finally! Real gold!"

It was an odd system Caprice reflected, these "Trials of Strife." Endless waves of brawlers. A giant ape that could only be freed after defeating some crazy angel woman. How those brawlers dropped gold, and how that gold could be spent to purchase items to down more brawlers, and occasionally, heroes. But the Pirate Queen didn't care. She was getting gold. And the longer the trials went on, Dharkwave or otherwise, she was getting a much steadier supply of income than she had been on the seas of Lyrie. And, she had to admit, having a better time of it too.

"Hey boys."

Caprice grinned as the brawlers charged her, like they always did. They knew their place, knew that she was the hero, and that they were only here to make her a better hero. So, still grinning, she fired her pistols. One brawler fell, then another. And in both cases, she felt her purse get heavier as gold magically appeared in it.

_Oracles I love this job._

No, not job, she reminded herself "Jobs" were mundane. It was the "job" of the Keepers to prepare Strife for the supposed Dharkwave invasion. It was the "job" of Malady to rule Nestra, or the "job" of Claudessa to be a knight with a frozen dragon tooth up her arse. But this…this wasn't a job. This was fun. And that was why Caprice found it so easy to reload her pistols and down the other brawlers.

"Hey babe."

Ignoring Ray wasn't as easy.

"Nice shooting."

Gritting her teeth, Caprice moved her way up the lane. Sooner or later more brawlers would come, and she'd have to make sure she was locked and loaded for them. Much to her frustration, the caterwaul tagged after her.

"Course I can shoot better."

_Yeah, but can you dodge better you overgrown weasel?_

"But hey, you need the gold back right?"

Caprice fingered her pistol. Spells were in effect that physically prevented her from attacking her teammates in the middle of a match. If not for those spells…well…she contented herself with thoughts of that possibility existing.

Ray had won. That little bet on who would win, Malady or Auros. A few seconds of torment later, and she'd lost her wager. In terms of raw amount, it wasn't much, just a few specks of gold. But her pride had been wounded, for the first time in as long as she could remember. So when she saw the brawlers coming her way, she glanced at Ray. Wondering what the little vermin would do.

"Oh, I'm good," he said, twirling his laser pistol (_laser pistol, stupid gimmick, _she thought). "Have fun."

"Yeah," the pirate queen said. "I will."

So she did. One brawler fell. Then another. She ducked. She weaved. She even called down her anchor. In terms of combat, she performed flawlessly. But-

_Something's wrong._

She kept firing. Kept dodging.

_Very wrong._

But her purse. It felt…lighter. Or at least lighter than it should have been given the rate of gold delivery. And when the last brawler hit the ground, she put a hand into it.

_Very __**very **__wrong._

There was gold there. More than there'd been a few minutes ago. But much less than there should have been. And as she glanced at Ray, as she watched the furball put coins into his own purse, she had a good ideas as to where it had gone.

"Nice," Ray said, watching Caprice walk over. "I'll put these towards my retirement fund. After I become the planes' greatest inventor."

"One more word and you'll need a disability fund," Caprice snarled. She held out a hand. "Gold. Now."

"What?"

"It's my gold," she said. "You stole it."

"Stole it?" Ray smirked. "I just happened to be nearby. Teamwork and all that."

"What?"

"Oh yeah, didn't you know?" Ray asked. "No-one gets individual gold. It's all team based. So if you get, say, sixty gold for downing a brawler, it's split accordingly with nearby team members."

"That's…that's…"

"All for teamwork of course," Ray said. He flipped a coin. "So here's to teamwork, eh?"

Caprice stared. Gripped her pistol. And swore. Loudly.

Suddenly these trials were approaching job territory. Lousy pay. Cut salaries.

And, as she watched Ray scamper off, lousy co-workers as well.


End file.
